Loosing Focus

Hebrews 12:1-3  “All these many people who have had faith in God are around us like a cloud.  Let us put every thing out of our lives that keeps us from doing we should.  Let us keep running in the race that God has planned for us.  Let us keep looking to Jesus.  Our faith comes from Him and He is the One Who makes it perfect.  He did not give up when he had to suffer shame and die on a cross.  He knew of the joy that would be His later.  Now is sitting at the right side of God.”  

James 2:4 “Sailing ships are driven by strong winds.  But a small rudder turns large ship whatever way the man at the wheel wants the ship to go.”

Focus.  The word “focus” has multiple meanings.  For the teachers reading this, it is what the kids are lacking as the days draw closer to summer.  Having a strong focus while learning something new is important, in order to complete that task.  Focus on goals can be challenging and almost seem impossible.  However, the focus, I want to “focus” on is similar to going and getting an eye exam.   “Is your vision better with 1 or 2?”  

Where is your focus?  How are you viewing life?  You can focus on 1 - the positive in situations - or - 2 - the negative.  What are you letting in?  Jealousy, anger, envy, having an “its about me” outlook.  Your vision is connected directly to your heart.  Our perspective of what is around us drives us on a daily basis.  “If you gaze too long at your circumstances, you will be come dizzy and confused.” (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young).  The choices we make with our focus drive our thinking and then directly influence our actions.  

What if you are in a season that just keeps running you ragged?  Give it to Him.  Dig deeper into the word and into prayer.  Find someone that makes you stronger and helps you stay focused.  We aren’t put here to be conformed, but to be “transformed”.  

Alan Jackson “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO4uIyz_d90

Be Blessed!

My Beautiful Hot Mess

Matthew 6:34  “Do Not worry about tomorrow.  Tomorrow will have its own worries.  The troubles we have in a day are enough for one day.”

Proverbs 12:25 “Worry in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad.”

We are our worst critics.  We reflect on our actions daily.  “What could I have done better today?” “Am I 100% in all areas?”  Then we proceed to let those thoughts weigh heavy on our shoulders.  We critic our journeys, beat ourselves up mentally, and exhaust resources to make ourselves better.  At times it feels like we are swimming in a deep pool, trying to keep the cinder block in our arms above water.  

For the educators reading this, we are evaluated through a system we all know too well.  When an administrator comes in with iPad in hand, the nerves start to build up, we tend to highlight the best in the room, and sweep the little imperfect pieces under the carpet in hopes that they won’t be revealed.  

Well, thank goodness God doesn’t walk into our lives with an evaluation system.  Thank goodness He can see the good and the bad then love us unconditionally.  No matter what, His love is never changing.  We can be a huge success, and He loves us.  We can be a huge failure, and He loves us.  

Please don’t read this thinking that you need to find a “comfort zone” and just feel God’s love.  God doesn’t want us to have a stagnant life, He wants us to have an active life.  A life that reflects His unconditional love to others.  So, if today is one big “hot mess”, rest knowing that He doesn’t see it as a “hot chaotic mess”, He sees it as a “beautiful hot mess”.  

Lauren Daigle “Here’s My Heart Lord”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTDoDA-1lsE

Pruning Season

John 15:1-4  “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer.  He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes.  And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more.  You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.  Live in me.  Make your home in me just as I do in you.  In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only being joined to the fine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.”

At dinner tonight, my son asked about a hat that was sitting on the other side of the room.  This hat has been in that same spot for a while, but he wasn’t sure who it belonged too.  I told him that it was “Papa’s” hat (my father).  

In 2007, my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 57.  I won’t go into detail the emotional rollercoaster that journey dealt, but it was both mentally and physically exhausting.  I questioned God, my faith, and life.  However, He always would wrap me back in and love me relentlessly.  I am telling you this because through that difficult period of time, God was pruning my heart.  This was a pruning season that continued a year after my dad gained his angel wings.  

We go through pruning seasons, blooming seasons, and a season in which we bear fruit.  God is the vine that keeps us intact.  The moment that we start to wander, seem lost, or hopeless, God wraps Himself around us and draws us nearer.  A vine does the exact same thing,  grabs whatever is near it and then proceeds to curl itself around that object providing stability and life.  

So that hat, yes it represents a life that was lived by an amazing man, but it also represents the fruit that has come from that period of time.  Fruit that none of my family would have seen possible during those dark moments.  Whatever season you are in, rest in knowing that He is always there and will wrap Himself around you.  Stay strong and know that you will see fruit again. 

Be Blessed!

Heart Check

 

Psalm 51:10 “Make clean a heart in me, O God.   Give me a new spirit that will not be moved.”

Luke 12:22 “Your heart will be wherever your riches are.”  

The other day I had packed a large apple in my lunch box.  As I pulled it out and examined how huge it was, I began to wonder if Eve had been faced with an apple of the same size and if its color looked as red as the one I had in my hand.  I then thought to myself, how often I’m handed something that looks so good on the outside, but the minute I have my hands on it and take a large bite, it is not as good as I thought it would be OR I want more.  My mind begins to be weighted down with the thoughts of wanting more or something different.  

On a daily basis, we fight this satisfaction battle in our brains.  Take a real quick heart check.  Look around at the blessings you have, be grateful.  Sieve through the thoughts that bring on that stinkin’ thinkin’.  Surround yourself with reminders of what you do have to be grateful for and know that there is only one way to truly be satisfied.  It is in a constant, growing relationship with him.  Because, that stinkin’ thinkin’ can bring you down and take the passion right out of your life.  Let Him fan our fire and keep our passions burning, even when we are pulled into so many different directions.  

What can you do to remind you of the many blessings you have been given?  My family and I sat down and wrote out a list together of blessings we have seen unfold over the last few years. Beautiful to see their wheels turning and their little hands create that list.   I also created a list that is on a notecard stuck in my Bible as a reminder.  It looks a little something like this:

  

I will bless the Lord today because…

His love for me is NEVER changing.  

I have a loving husband who loves me unconditionally.  

We have 2 beautiful kids who make us laugh daily.

I’m surrounded by daily reminders of Him and His grace.

I’m surrounded by a community of faith warriors.

These are just a few.  So get out a notecard, scrap of paper, or whatever you can and create a visual during your quiet time.  Do some spring cleaning within yourself, get ride of those cobwebs, and refresh your mind with all that you have to be grateful for.  

Be Blessed!

Missing Piece

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord will all of your heart, and do not trust in your own understanding.  Agree with Him in ALL your ways and He will make you path’s straight.”

Jeremiah 29: 13-14 “You will look for Me and find Me, WHEN you look for Me with ALL OF YOUR HEART.”

Recently my mother brought something to my attention that I have never noticed before.  Do you see what is missing?  Let’s see if you can figure it out as I unravel what He has on my heart tonight.  

In John 12:1-8, it discusses a scenario in which Mary, whom most of us know that Mary is the one who sits at Jesus’ feet while Martha works and puts food on the table (also note Martha gets very frustrated with the details of the house and not Jesus).  Mary takes her most prized possession and pours it over Jesus’ feet, wipes them with her hair, and then clings to His feet.  She clutches so tightly and is hanging on knowing He is the most important detail of that dinner.  

We all are Martha’s and Mary’s at some point, if not changing roles daily.  Our minds get so caught up in the daily agenda, that we forget to cling to His feet.  We have to let him in our hearts and in our minds.  “God has deliberately chosen this particular vehicle (prayer) as the one that drives HIS activity in people’s lives.  It’s what He allows us to use to cooperate and partner with Him in the fulfilling of HIS will.” (Fervent, Priscilla Shirer).  

Have you figured out the missing piece to that picture?  It is missing a door knob.  WE have to let Him in.  He can’t let Himself in our hearts, minds, and lives.  WE HAVE TO LET HIM IN!  So, get out your tool boxes and start working on that door handle, because He is knocking.  

Be Blessed!

Only One Lives Without Sin

Watch this clip:  (there is no sound)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDuUUgLItNA​

1 Peter 2:22-25

“He never sinned. No lie or bad talk ever came from His lips.  When people spoke against Him, He never spoke back.  When He suffered from what people did to Him, He did not try to pay them back.  He left it in the hands of the One Who was always right in judging.  He carried our sins in His own body when He died on a cross.  In doing this, we may be dead to sin and alive to all that is right and good.  His words have healed you!  You were like lost sheep  But now you have come back to Him Who is your Shepherd and the One Who cares for your soul.”

Jesus lived a pure life.  A life that led to no wrong doing.  Can you imagine the statements that were made to Him?  The wrong doings that He endured.  NO BAD WORDS OR THOUGHTS CAME FROM HIM.

Have you ever tried to live one day without sinning?  No gossiping, nothing bad coming from our mouths or even our thoughts…IMPOSSIBLE.  Human nature is hard to beat.  Our natural response when someone does us wrong is to defend ourselves, whether in thoughts, actions, and/or words.  

However, in order to cleanse us from our sins, His blood had to be shed.  In Hebrews 9:18 it states, “The Old Way of Worship had to have a death to make it good.  The blood of an animal was used.”  In Hebrews 10:10 it states, “Our sins are washed away and we are made plain because Christ gave His own body as a gift to God.”  Because He gave his own blood for all of us, there was born a “New Worship”.  I had never really thought of it as an “old way” of worship or a “new way" of worship.  No longer where animals needed to be slain, Jesus’ blood is good forever.  

Wow!  Thank goodness for His Grace and the fact that His cup never runs empty on us.  He suffered and did not give up until “It was finished”.   

Happy Easter!

Mental Real Estate

Galatians 5:1  “Christ has set us free to live a free life.  So take your stand!  Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.”

Romans 12:1-2 “…Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around-life-and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.  Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You’ll be changed from the inside out.  Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you into its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

I truly love being able to walk in awe of how He places these messages on my heart.  There are some weeks where, on Wednesday nights, such at tonight, I don’t have a true clear understanding of what He is wanting me to put on paper, but then sitting and reflecting the week and events that have occurred, it might as well slap me in the face.  He has it ready and sitting right in front of me.  Here is what He has laid on my heart tonight:  

We have been looking for a new home closer into town.  I find myself on Zillow daily trying to find the “just right house”.  However, we can’t put a contract on anything until we sell our house.  Why am I wasting my time?  Why am I taking my time to search for a home that I, subconsciously, know that God already has for us? The thoughts, the rollercoaster of “what ifs” have consumed so many moments over the last few months.  Where does it get me??? No where and certainly not into a new home.  

Did you know that that we have Mental Real Estate?  Yep, we have real estate in our heads.  What do we let occupy it?  The “what if’s”, the anxiousness, the worry… I recently learned that I’m a Neuroplastician.  Did you know you were too?  Dr. Caroline Leaf has studied the brain and found that negative thoughts take over our brains like weeds.  “What you feed grows, what you starve dies.”  You are in charge of those thoughts, your mindset.  Take those thoughts and those feelings captive.  Don’t let them grow, toss them out and don’t let them take control of your life.  What does the mental real estate look like in your life?  Is it something that is pleasing in God’s eyes?  Is it fruitful in your life?  If not, be a neuroplastician and change it, because you can.  

Be blessed!